Digging a Hole, Throwing Yourself In
by FlameAlchemistLove
Summary: Shark is back in gangs, but it's worse than ever when he's scared senseless and abused by the leader, Slasher. Desperate to save his friend, Yuma takes extreme measures and falls into a hole himself. Chapters 1-3 rated T, violence, language, some cute/fluffy/fluff. Alternate Ending rated M, contains language, sexual themes, sharkbaitshipping [SharkxYuma], lemon, yaoi (boyxboy)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One of Digging a Hole only to Throw Yourself In**

**Characters: **Shark, Yuma, OC-Slasher

**Warnings: **Slight violence, character development, things like that.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal or its characters, but I do own this fanfic.

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"I'm going to give you to the count of three."

"But I don't know what you're—"

"One."

"I really don't know!"

"Two."

"_Please!_"

"Three."

When my fist connected in the kid's gut and sent him doubling over and gasping, I felt a thrill of fear, but also of satisfaction. I kicked the kid hard in the chest and threw him backwards. I bent and picked up the other boy's scattered deck, pocketing it.

"I'll be taking this." I spat delicately to the side. "When you've decided to get over yourself and tell me the truth, you know where to come." I turned around and walked off.

Without looking back.

**x.**

I was halfway home when I heard footsteps behind me. A voice shouted my name harshly.

I stopped and turned.

Dual-colored hair, sequined jeans under a multicolored tank top and light vest, a golden pendant gleaming at his breast, and a fiery passion in his amber eyes—I could have recognized Yuma Tsukumo from a mile away.

"What do you want?"

"That kid back in that alleyway a few hours ago," he said angrily, "that was you, wasn't it?"

His deck had felt heavier in my pocket with every step until I had handed it over to Slasher. I thought I had left gang life behind me a couple years ago. Apparently not.

"So what if it was?" I demanded. "We're looking for information on a gang calling themselves E17. That kid was a spy that's been scouting out our hideout for the past week. Slash sent me after him. I only did my job."

"Why are you back in gangs, Shark?" Yuma's voice softened, his eyes glittering with worry, reflecting the stars above. "You said you left that behind you."

I couldn't bear to look at the hurt on his face as I turned my back on him. "What I do is none of your business, Yuma. Just let me do what I want."

"No. They're just using you, can't you see that?"

"Leave me alone." I started walking again.

"Shark—if you ever need to talk—I'm here."

I stopped.

"You have my cell number. I'll always pick up. I'll always talk. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll just listen. I'll help you in any way possible."

"Thanks for the help hotline," I snapped, "but I don't need _your_ advice **or** your help."

I broke into a run for my house.

**x.**

I threw a punch at my wall. All that happened was pain flaring in my hand.

Swearing, I danced around for a minute, clutching my hand, before I stopped and shook it out. I looked at the bruises already forming across my knuckles.

**flashback**

_I dropped the deck on the main table. "Done and done. The kid's been taken care of."_

_ "Good job, Shark," Slasher said. "Didn't think you had it in you."_

_ I could hear the rest of the gang shifting and muttering. I caught snatches of their conversations. Most thought I still didn't have it in me. They were wrong._

_ "What more do I have to do to prove myself to you?" I asked. "I've taken down the kid, I've stolen his deck, I've stolen the layout blueprints for E17's warehouse. I've done twelve of the ten things you've asked of me"_

_ Slasher rubbed his jaw. "That's true, but I still don't know if we can trust you."_

_ Anger rose like fire in my chest. I opened my mouth to speak._

_ His palm cracked across my cheek in a harsh slap that rocked me back on my heels, jerking my head to one side. I tenderly raised my fingers up, closing my eyes until the pain faded._

_ "You don't speak until you're spoken to," Slasher said. "That's one of the first things I taught you."_

_ "Pardon me," I murmured._

_ "Don't linger on it. That was for your own good. Pain is weakness leaving the body. And God knows you've got a lot of it."_

_ Harsh, mocking laughter rang like bells in my ears until I thought I would explode. I curled my nails into my palms to stop my hands from trembling. I took a steadying breath and resisted the urge to say 'thank you'._

**end flashback**

The sting and the redness had long since faded from my cheek, but I could still hear the laughter, and I could still see the bitter amusement on Slasher's face. He was a bully, just like everyone else in Pride and Pain. He wanted to make me angry. He wanted to make me cry. But I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

At least…not the face-to-face satisfaction.

I collapsed on my bed, curled up around my water-design pillow with the lightning storm, and started crying.

I was furious. I was so angry at Slasher for hitting me and embarrassing me in front of the rest of the gang. I was angry at myself for losing control right now. I was angry at Yuma for intervening. I was mad at anything and everything I could think of to be mad at and about.

I sat up and punched my pillow hard. More frustrated tears spilled down my cheeks and onto the blankets. I threw the nearest book across the room. It hit the bookshelf nailed to the wall. A figurine fell to the floor with a clatter.

I stopped.

Sniffling, I stood up and picked my way over to where it lay, abandoned, on the ground. I knelt and scooped it tenderly into my hands. It was a handcrafted figure of a Great White Shark, painted delicately, jaws parted fiercely, an arcing tidal wave behind it. The glittering black eyes held a challenge—and a question.

_Slasher is merely another challenge, like a duel. Will you face him? Or are you going to let him win this easily?_

To be honest, I thought I might.

But I didn't give up during the World Championships five years ago. Shark Ryoga Kastle does not give up.

I stood up and very gently replaced my shark on the wooden shelf. Sharks don't stumble upon good fortune. They work, stalking their prey with endless patience. Then, when they're close enough to see the whites of their eyes, they strike hard and fast, getting what they came for before slipping away like shadows.

No, I didn't know if I was going to be able to take on Slasher and the rest of Pride and Pain.

But it was like Yuma always said. _If life is a game they say I can't win, I'll never amount to nothing. Gotta keep going and not let other people break your fire. High-five the sky to get where you're going._

I picked up my fallen book and sat it gently on my bedside table. I brushed the tears away from my face, took a deep breath, and actually smiled. Strange that I was referring to something Yuma had said for my rock to lean on.

I think he was growing on me.


	2. Chapter 2

**I didn't think it would be this popular! The only other of my stories that has ever been as popular as DaH,TyI is my 'Twins In Love' for Ouran HSHC! I guess people seem to like this!**

**I think I've tormented you long enough, so here's chapter two~ **

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Chapter Two

_**SHARK**_

The next day dawned bright and clear. Saturday was one of my only escapes. I didn't have to go to school, and I wasn't supposed to meet Pride and Pain until that evening. I woke up to bright sun streaming in through the gap between my curtains. I pushed my hands over my head, stretching and relaxing like that. I looked up at my ceiling through a few strands of hair I couldn't be bothered to push away. There was a spider skittering across my ceiling, toward a web where a fly lay, twitching feebly.

It must have struggled something fierce at first. Soon, its viscous fighting would have depleted all of its energy. It wouldn't be able to fight off the spider now.

Slowly, I rose to my elbows, still watching the fly. Clever spider, letting the fly wear itself out before coming forward to kill it.

_"They're just using you, can't you see that?"_

_ Yeah_, I thought. _You're right, Yuma. Spun a web to catch and torture the unsuspecting fly, using it for their own selfish reasons._

_ Never let it go._

_ Digging a hole only to throw yourself in._

I got myself deeper and deeper into this mess without realizing it.

Slasher had given me the shovel. I had put it to the ground.

And now the hole was too deep, the web too tight, my energy too low, to get out.

**_YUMA_**

_I don't think I would deny it if you asked,_ I thought to myself, stretched out on my hammock. A bird was sitting on the windowsill, watching me as I watched it. Astral was parked on my floor, watching the TV I used as a bookstand.

_I don't think I _could_ deny it if you asked_, I continued in my head. _I'm more worried about Shark than I think even _I _know._

I pushed myself up and looked over to where Astral was sitting with his knees to his chest, slender arms around his shins. "What are you even watching?"

"_The Sparrow: Return of the Dark Queen_," Astral responded, golden eyes drifting up to meet mine. "I do not believe that the Dark Queen likes the Sparrow very much, even though they are related."

I reached down and flicked the TV off. "That was on last night, too. You're too obsessed with that show, Astral."

He rose to long legs and lifted into the air, floating in a circle around my hammock. "Is this one of those days where you do not have to go to school, Yuma?"

"'S called Saturday, buddy," I said, picking up my Emperor's Key and slipping it onto my neck. I swung my legs over the side of my hammock and jumped nimbly to the floor. "I think I'm going to go see if Shark's up for a duel or somethin'."

Astral tipped his head at me. "I thought you and Shark did not get along."

"We don't," I said quietly, pulling off my baggy t-shirt and reaching for my tank top. "But I'm worried about him."

"Does he not hang out with those boys who told him to hurt that little boy yesterday?" he questioned.

"Yeah, he does." Succeeding in wiggling into my tank top, I shrugged on my vest and kicked off my sweatpants. "But it's obvious he doesn't want to. Did you see him yesterday, when we found him by the river? His eyes were scared. He had a hit mark on his cheek. They're hurting him and scaring him, but he's too proud to admit it." Fastening my belt, I looked up at Astral, who was now perched on the edge of my hammock. "Well, he doesn't have to admit it. I'm going to help him whether he wants it or not."

**.x.x.x.**

It only took me maybe forty minutes, an hour at most, to walk to Shark's house, which was a considerable time, since he lived close to the outskirts of Heartland City.

When I got there, all of the curtains were drawn and the windows were dark. I cupped my hands around my eyes and looked in through the door, squinting. I couldn't see a thing.

Astral winked into existence at my side. "Perhaps he is not home," he suggested.

I walked around the house and stretched up onto my toes, looking into the garage.

"His motorcycle's gone," I told Astral. For once, he didn't respond. I turned my head and noticed him with his back up against the wall, golden eyes big as he looked over my shoulder.

My fingers found my Emperor's Key. "Astral? Hey, what're you lookin' at?" I turned around—and my heart crawled up high into my throat.

Four guys, each easily twice my weight and a lot taller and more muscular than I was, were advancing, grinning and snickering. I recognized them as the muscles of Pride and Pain—Slasher's right-hand men. They had been lurking around when I had found the nearly unconscious kid in the alleyway the day before.

I slowly backed up against the stone wall of Shark's garage, feeling my heart tapping like a military drum in my throat.

"I have a feeling I'm screwed," I said, my voice climbing a few octaves.

"For once, Yuma," Astral said in just as timid a voice, "I do believe you're right."

_**SHARK**_

I left the beach just before sunset, when the dying fire was leaking into the rippling waves of the sea. Very gently, one last wave came up and licked my heels, cascading over my calves. I stood still and waited until it retreated before continuing across the damp sand.

Whenever I needed to relax and just think, I had always brought my motorcycle to the beach and sat just inside the surf, legs drawn up and looking out over the ocean. I could sit and think and not do anything. I oft fell asleep listening to the quiet rush of the waves and feeling the sweet, caressing sunbeams that danced from the sky, sparkling off of the water.

I stepped into my flip flops and pulled my helmet on as I paced up the boardwalk toward my motorcycle. Ever since I had started hanging out with Pride and Pain, I found myself here more and more often. I found more of a comfort in sitting on the sand and daydreaming.

I lowered myself onto the soft seat of my motorcycle and put my elbows on the dash, leaning forward until my forehead was in my hands. _I can't do this anymore_, I thought, and then aloud: "I can't do this anymore."

**.x.x.x.**

Standing in front of Slasher for the first time, my legs almost turned to water and gave out.

_ He had long blonde hair that fell in front of one eye, the ends of the locks brushing his shoulders. He tipped his head, his hair falling away and revealing two different colored eyes. His left one was aquamarine blue, where the other was emerald green. His nails looked manicured where they held three cards with black backdrops._

_ "So you're Shark," he murmured. "I heard about you from Kaito."_

_ "You know Kaito?" The words burst from my lips before I could stop them. "The Number Hunter?"_

_ A sharp blow to the back of my legs brought me to my knees._

_ "You don't speak until spoken to! That's the first rule!" one of the other members yelled from behind me._

_ I remained on the ground, unwilling to rise only to be hit again._

_ "You learn fast, little boy," Slasher said approvingly. "Kaito was right about you. Stand up." _

_ I did as I was told._

_ "So obedient," Slasher said, holding out the three cards. "Kaito lent me these Numbers. You're to keep hold of them. If, by the end of two weeks, they are still intact, you will become a full member of Pride and Pain. If they are not, then you will answer to Kaito and the others. Am I understood?"_

_ "Yes…"_

_**.x.x.x.**_

I didn't notice my numb hands starting the engine on my cycle. I didn't notice the wind whipping past as I tore toward Pride and Pain's hideout. Today marked two weeks.

Number 64, Number 77, and Number 3 rested gently in the dashboard of my cycle. I knew they were there. I had checked right before I had hit the sand, and it was locked securely with a five-prong voice-activated lock. It only responded to my voice.

Like I only responded to Slash.

**.x.x.x.**

I reached Pride and Pain's hideout before nightfall. I whispered the five word code and the lock slid open, the dashboard falling open. I tenderly picked up 64, 77, and 3 like they would explode at any given point.

Which they might. After my first run-in with Kaito, I had learned not to trust anything the squirrel handled.

Having my soul stolen was painful and embarrassing and humiliating and draining. I hated the bastard.

I shook my head to clear those clinging thoughts and abandoned my helmet. Taking a steadying breath, I headed into the warehouse.

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**A/N: Haha, here it is!**

**Reviews are love and everyone needs love!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I won't keep you and let you get to reading~ BUT PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE BOTTOM! ITS IMPORTANT!**

**~Flame**

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Chapter Three

_**YUMA**_

The handcuffs snicked closed around my wrists as I was thrown to my knees. I could hear Slasher talking with Shark in the main room. Bone, who was holding one hand over my mouth, snarled at me once again to keep quiet.

Astral, staying smart, was holed up in my Emperor's Key and refusing to come out, no matter how much I begged in my mind. I could feel the heat rising from my swelled cheek, the result of Bone striking me when I had struggled. Listening, I could hear Slasher telling Shark that, although he was pleased the Numbers were in good condition, he had to do one last thing to prove his loyalty to Pride and Pain.

I had a feeling that 'one last thing' had to do with me.

_**SHARK**_

I followed Slasher down a side hall, hands in my pockets.

"You see, we've recently come upon a stray dog, if you will," he was saying. "He's going to need a teacher, one who's going to be strict and harsh with him. If you can break him just right in a week or so, then you can become a full member." He stopped and turned to look at me, his hand on the handle of a door to his left. "I think you might be familiar with him."

He pushed down on the handle and the door swung wide.

Inside the bright room, Yuma was on his knees, head bowed, hands cuffed behind his back. Bone had one hand fisted in his hair, and jerked his head up when I peeked in. His eyes were tear-filled and sparkling with terror, and he had a darkening bruise under one eye. The string his Emperor's Key dangled on was frayed on one side, threatening to snap.

I took two horrified steps backwards. "You can't be serious," I gasped out. "I c-can't—hurt him!"

"Then I guess you can't be part of Pride and Pain," Slasher snapped. "You wasted two precious weeks that we could have been using on E17. Now either take on your burden or get out and never let me see your face again. But then," he added, "you'll have Kaito and the others on your tail."

I swallowed my next breath, my heart rapping against my ribs. There was an evil challenge in Slasher's different colored eyes. I had told myself I never backed down from a challenge—but could I go through with this one?

"I—_can't_!" I exclaimed.

Slasher's right hand curled into a fist. "You have five more seconds to change your mind, Shark."

My eyes met Yuma's. Another challenge sat there—_You said you didn't need me. You said you were fine, that you knew what you were doing. Well, Shark? Hit me._

I couldn't bring myself to move.

Not even when Slasher lashed out at me.

I just stood there. Helpless. Defenseless. Submissive.

A fly to a spider.

**.x.x.x.**

I must have lost consciousness at some point, because I woke up under the stars, leaning up against my motorcycle and facing the riverbank.

My entire body was throbbing. Wincing and swearing, I rolled over and looked at myself in the fender of my cycle.

I had a nasty bruise around my left eye, and a streak of blood from the corner of my mouth down my chin. There were three parallel scratch marks on my jaw, and my shirt was torn at the neck.

I reached up for my shark tooth necklace, which had blood on one edge, but was otherwise intact. I wasn't sure where I was, or how I got here. The last thing I remembered was the immense pain of a fist connecting with my eye, and then a flurry of shouts, calls, and swears, most of which I think came from me.

A footstep sounded on the grass behind me. Another reflection stretched over the fender.

"You're finally awake."

I turned around with another painful groan.

"You've been out for almost three hours, Shark," Yuma said, coming forward and kneeling in front of me. He had a damp cloth in one hand that he used to gently dab at the cuts on my jaw. The water was cool and had a suspiciously fishy smell to it.

"Did you—?"

"The river was closest."

I couldn't help but grin. Pain lanced my lower lip.

Yuma didn't meet my gaze, his expression carefully controlled. The bruise on his cheek had darkened to a nasty blue-purple. "You scared me."

"I wouldn't have hurt you," I said, tipping my head.

"That wasn't it," he said, shaking his head, his bangs whispering. "You were knocked out almost from the first blow." He looked up at me. "Why did you do it, Shark?"

"I can't control my consciousness."

"I'm not talkin' about that." Yuma blinked slowly. "Why did you hang out with them in the first place?" His voice quivered.

"You know how I am at school," I responded after a long period of silence. "I don't have 'friends'. I have followers. Cronies, if you will. People who only hang out with me because I'm Shark Ryoga Kastle, runner-up at the World Championships. I'm nearly undefeated. They gave me, whose place has disappeared, a place to be. A place I thought I belonged."

Yuma reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a bandage. He opened it and stuck it gently over the scratches on my jaw. "You idiot. You'd never have been accepted. They only wanted you to use you."

"I should have believed you," I said. "I'm sorry."

"As you should be." The corner of his mouth quirked up. "I got kidnapped for your sake."

As our eyes met again, I knew something passed between us. Something… special.

Then the moment was broken as we both laughed.

**.x.x.x.**

That was a couple months ago.

Now there's a group of us—Kat, Tori, Bronk, Flip, Yuma, my friend Rai, and myself—who hang out all the time. They're the people I can call friends.

They give me, whose place has disappeared, a place to belong.

A place I _know_ I belong.

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**A/N: THE ALTERNATE ENDING HAS THE LEMON! I SWEAR IT DOES. IT ALSO HAS A CHAPTER FOUR. The alternate ending, however, is NOT quite as completed as I would like it to be. But it'll be done! I've promised I'll do it before I have to go back to school-so expect it up before August 20th! I SWEAR it'll be up before then!**

**Thank you all for all your support and love!**


	4. ALTERNATE ENDING part 1

**This is the alternate ending to Chapitre Trois, or Chapter Three in English. Yus, it has Sharkbaitshipping.**

**The next chapter, A/E Chapter Four, WILL have a lemon, I promise~ **

**Here you go!**

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"I'm not talkin' about that." Yuma blinked slowly. "Why did you hang out with them in the first place?" His voice quivered.

"You know how I am at school," I responded after a long period of silence. "I don't have 'friends'. I have followers. Cronies, if you will. People who only hang out with me because I'm Shark Ryoga Kastle, runner-up at the World Championships. I'm nearly undefeated. They gave me, whose place has disappeared, a place to be. A place I thought I belonged."

Yuma reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a bandage. He opened it and stuck it gently over the scratches on my jaw. "You idiot. You'd never have been accepted. They only wanted you to use you."

"I should have believed you," I said. "I'm sorry."

"As you should be." The corner of his mouth quirked up. "I got kidnapped for your sake."

As our eyes met again, I knew something passed between us. Something… special.

Then it all clicked. The reason Yuma was my rock to lean on. The reason I couldn't bring myself to hurt him. The reason my body shut down when I had seen his tears. The reason I wasn't saying something smart-ass.

I was in love with Yuma Tsukumo.

Tenderly, he touched the streak of blood on my chin. "I didn't…see this." His hand went for the cloth he had abandoned at the same time as mine. Our fingers overlapped.

We both went still, neither moving, sapphire eyes meeting red-gold.

"Shark," he began abruptly.

I cut him off with my lips on his.

I think I was as surprised as he was. But we kind of relaxed into each other at the same time. His hand tangled with mine as his other hand landed on the grass. He used it as a kickstand as he leaned forward.

My free hand tangled in his hair, angling his head as my eyes closed. My heart tapped a regulation beat on the back of my ribs. My hand slipped from his head to cradle his cheek, where the bruise lay like a crude decoration, a chip in a precious porcelain figurine.

We broke apart when my head was spinning from lack of air. His chest rose and fell irregularly, his eyes big and cheeks prime red as he looked at me. Yuma opened his mouth to speak.

I put one finger to his lips.

"Don't say anything," I whispered. "It's late. Come home with me."


End file.
